January 6
1859: Birthdate of Samuel Alexander, the Australian-born British philosopher who was the first Jewish fellow of an “Oxbridge” college.
548: This was the last year the Church in Jerusalem observed the birth of Jesus on this date. (Celebrating Christmas on December 25th began in the late 300s in the Western Church
1387: John I begins his reign as King of Aragon. In 1375, the future king assigned Abraham Cresques and his son Yehuda “to make a set of nautical charts which would go beyond the normal geographic range of contemporary portolan charts to cover the "East and the West, and everything that, from the Strait (of Gibraltar) leads to the West". For this job, Cresques and Jehuda would be paid 150 Aragonese golden florins and 60 Mallorcan pounds, respectively…”
1449: In an unusual move, Constantine XI is crowned Byzantine Emperor at Mistra instead of at Constantinople. His reign would be a short one. He would lose his throne in 1453 when Constantinople fell to the Ottomans under Mehmed II. Constantine was the last Emperor and the last Christian ruler of what was left of the Roman Empire. The Moslem Ottoman Empire would prove to be a haven for Jews fleeing from persecution in Christian Europe. Also, Mehmed worked to insure that a significant portion of the population of Istanbul (the new name for Constantinople) would be Jewish. Cresques was a 14thcentury Jewish cartographer “who is credit with the authorship of the Catalan Atlas.
1481: In Spain , during the Inquisition, the priests inaugurated the first auto-da-fe.
1497: Jews were expelled from Graz , Syria
1560: Giovanni Medici who had been elected Pope on Christmas Day 1559 was installed as Pope Pius IV. According to Gordon Thomas, author of The Pope’s Jews, “Pope Pius IV …relaxed a variety of restrictions on Jewish life that had been imposed by his predecessor, Paul IV, but… does not point out that the restrictions were restored by Pius V.”
1663(5423): Italian rabbi Simeon (Simḥah) ben Isaac Luzzatto passed away in Venice.
1693: Mehmed IV, the Ottoman Sultan passed away. During his reign, Moses Beberi was appointed ambassador to Sweden. After his death in 1674 his son Yehuda was appointed to the position ambassador. When the Jews of the Ukraine were looking for a place of refuge during the Cossack Uprising Mehmet IV, allowed them to settle on the banks of the Danube in Morea, Kavala, Istanbul and Salonica. The second event happens in 1666. Rabbi Sabetay Sevi declares himself messiah and causes turmoil. Mehmed was also the sultan who had to deal with Sabbati Zevi, the famous false messiah.
1706: Birthdate of Benjamin Franklin, printer, publisher, scientist, statesmen and a man who was far greater than his parts. “Franklin knew the Hebrew scriptures (what we call the Bible) very well. He had even suggested that the Great Seal of America depict Moses standing on the shore of the Red Sea, while Pharaoh drowns in his chariot in its midst. The motto at the bottom of the seal would have read: ‘Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.’ You see Franklin was among those Founding Fathers who saw in the American Revolution a replaying of the story of the Jewish Exodus from Egypt . King George III was the Pharaoh. George Washington was Moses. The Atlantic Ocean was the Red Sea . And, it was as if God were saying to King George: ‘Let my American people go!’ It is also important to point out that when the Jewish community in Philadelphia built their synagogue, which they named “Mikveh Israel ,” Franklin contributed to the building fund himself. On July 4, 17 88Franklin was too sick and weak to get out of bed, but the Independence Day parade in Philadelphia marched right under his window. And, as Franklin himself had directed, ‘the clergy of different Christian denominations, with the rabbi of the Jews, walked arm in arm. And when he was carried to his grave two years later, his casket was accompanied by all the clergymen of the city, every one of them, of every faith.”
1761: Jacob Henry of New York wrote a letter addressed to Barnard Gratz in which he discussed plans to build a synagogue in Philadelphia.
1785(24th of Tevet, 5545): Haym Salomon passed away in Philadelphia at the age of 44. Born in Poland in 1740, Salomon came to the United States before the outbreak of the American Revolution. He was a friend of financier Robert Morris and helped several leaders of the American Revolution. Among those whom he lent money to was James Madison, author of the Federalist Papers and President of the United States . Salomon died penniless having bankrupted himself in support of the cause of American independence
1803:Birthdate of pianist and composer Henri Herz.
1811: Birthdate of Charles Sumner who served as U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. While serving as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sumner supported efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Jews of Romania.
1813:Wirt und Gast, the second opera by German-Jewish composer Giacomo Meyerbeer was performed for the first time in Stuttgart, Germany. Unlike his first opera, Jephtas Gelübde, which was a Biblical drama, Wirt und Gast is “the colorful Arabian Nights tale of the man who becomes caliph for a day.”
1838: Birthdate of German composer, Max Bruch. Bruch was not Jewish. But he is most famous for his composition Kol Nidrei, written for cello and orchestra. It is based on the traditional chant associated with that most holy of Jewish holidays
1840: Sultan Abdul Mejid, under pressure from the Montefiore delegation, issued a Firman against blood libels. He also unconditionally released nine survivors of the Damascus libels. Four Jews had already died.
1846(8th of Tevet, 5606): Lewis Goldsmith passed away in Paris. Born at Richmond,Surrey, he played an active, if marginal role, in the conflict between Napoleon and the British, Among other things, he “published The Crimes of Cabinets, or a Review of the Plans and Aggressions for Annihilating the Liberties of France and the Dismemberment of her Territories, an attack on the military policy of” William Pitt.
1854: The will of Judah Touro dated this day appoints four executors, three of whom are to each receive $10,000. R.D. Shepperd, the fourth legatee is the residuary legatee. The will bequeathed nearly $450,000 to various public institutions for charitable purposes, including the following: $80,000 for the establishment of an Almshouse in New-Orleans; $5,000 to the Hebrew Congregation in Boston;
1854: Judah Touro signed his last will and testament.
1858: Babette and Joseph Seligman give birth to George Seligman
1858: The Court of Common Pleas heard the case of Mark Isaacs vs The Beth Hamedrash Society which “grew out of a claim by the plaintiff for baking” Matzah “for this religious corporation. The matter was to be settled by arbitration but the plaintiff contended the arbitration was invalid because the arbiters met on Sunday which was a violation of state law. But the respondents contended that since they observed Saturday as a day of rest they were not bound by this restriction. While agreeing with respondents contention, the Court found their claim to be immaterial since the final document of arbitration was signed on Monday which meant that the issue of Sabbath observance was moot. Decision for the Respondent
1859: Birthdate of Samuel Alexander, the Australian-born British philosopher who was the first Jewish fellow of an “Oxbridge” college.
1859:It wasreported today that a journal printed in Hebrew called Cammagia (The Orator) which has just appeared in Lyk, a city in northern Prussia has been well received in Poland as well as in Prussia.
1861(24th of Tevet, 5621): Major General Albert Goldsmid passed away. Born in 1794, this son of Benjamin Goldsmid entered the British Army in 1811 and served at the Battle of Waterloo. Much of his career was spent in the cavalry where he earned several decorations for his service.
1863: The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that General Order 11 had been rescinded.
1863: General Grant sent several telegrams to General Halleck acknowledge the revocation of General Order 11. “By direction of the General in Chief of the Army at Washington¸ the General Order from these Head Quarters expelling Jews from this Department is hereby revoked.”
1871: U.S. Vice President Schyler Colfax sent a letter today expressing his regret at not being able to attend an upcoming celebration of the newly unified nation of Italy. Colfax expressed his hope that when Victor Emanuel said that Italy is free and one he meant that the newly united nation would follow the example of the United States of guaranteeing religious freedom to “Jew and Gentile” alike. Colfax saw this guarantee of religious freedom as critical to the current success of the American Republic and as a critical to the future success of the Italian Republic. [Declarations like this are another example of what separates the experience of the Jews in the United States from that in European, Asian or African political entity.]
1876: In Buffalo, NY, the clothing firm of Friedman & Co made an assignment to Henry Cone, a retired Jewish merchant to cover their liabilities of $5,000.
1878; It was reported today that “a thrilling tale of a brave young Jew” is going to appear in the Number 10 issued of the New York Weekly.
1878: It was reported today that “a Jewish paper” has called for a national meeting to revise Jewish ritual. The papers say that “there is much in the ritual to which many Jews no longer give assent.” Also, there are sections which an even larger number do not understand.
1879(11th of Tevet, 5639)Rabbi Benjamin Artom passed away today at 3 Marine Parade, Brighton.(UK).He was the Haham of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews of Great Britain. Born in 1835 at Asti, Piedmont, Italy, he was the first person to hold the post of rabbi of Naples. In 1866 he accepted a call to become the spiritual leader, or Haham, of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews in Britain, and held the post until his death. He composed a prayer for boys on the occasion of their Bar Mitzvah that was at one time used in most orthodox synagogues in Britain, and is still used in the Spanish and Portuguese ones.
1890(14THof Tevet, 5650): Former Judge Philip J. Joachimsen passed away today at 4 o’clock this afternoon at his home on 54th Street in New York City. The American jurist and communal worker was born in 1817 at Breslaue Germany. He emigrated to New York in 1827, and was admitted to the bar there in 1840. During the Civil war, he organized and commanded the Fifty-ninth New York Volunteer Regiment, and was injured at New Orleans. For his services he was made brigadier-general by brevet. After the war he practiced law until he was elected judge of the New York Marine Court in 1870. In 1877, he returned to private practice. In 1859, he was elected to serve as the first president of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum. In 1879 he organized the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society for Children in New York. (As reported by Adler & Friedenberg and the NYT)
1892: It was reported today that thirty adult Russian Jews and 12 of their children are living at J. Syren’s Hotel on Madison Street where conditions are so unsanitary that officials are worried about an outbreak of smallpox.
1893: “The Outbreak of Typhus Fever” published today described the outbreak of the epidemic in New York City which had its greatest impact among the immigrant population.
1893: The Libre Parole sponsored “a great anti-Semitic meeting” at the Tivoli Vauxhall in Paris.
1894: Among the charities receiving funds from the Brooklyn Board of Estimate were the Hebrew Orphan Asylum Society - $294.88; Hebrew Benevolent Society, Eastern Division - $121.42; Hebrew Benevolent Society, Western Division - $72.32. This means that the Jewish charities received $488.62 of the $85,000 distributed by the Board.
1895: For the first time since its founding in 1863, the Union League does not have any Jewish members because Edwin Einstien resigned from the club today. He resigned because the league had taken no action to remedy the effect of the blackballing of the son of Jesse Seligman which had taken place two years ago.
1895: “Will of Eugene Kelly” published today explained that “the famous banker” had not left money to Catholic and Jewish charities as an “expression in favor” in favor of either these religions but because “other denominations are wealthier and better able to care for their poor.”
1895: “The Late Czar” published today provided a review of Alexander III of Russiaby Charles Lowe which included a description of Russian persecution of its Jewish population.
1896: Birthdate of Nathan Pritzker. The highly successful investor and real estate mogul is best known for his ownership of the Hyatt Hotel chain. At one time or another he has also controlled the Hammond Organ Company and Continental Air Lines. According to one estimate his holdings were valued at 700 million dollars during the 1980’s.
1896: Mrs. Freda Silverman and her two daughters (Rachel,9 and Sarah, 3) were forced to leave their room at 185 Division Street tonight by their landlord because they could not pay the $6 in rent they owed him.
1897: “The twenty-third annual lecture course of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association opened tonight at the Musical Hall of the Carnegie Building with a recitation by Mrs. Aida Kaufman and a lecture on ‘Modern Popular Delusions’ by Simon Sterne.”
1898: State Supreme Court Judge William N. Cohen is scheduled to deliver a lecture entitled “The Profession of the Law and Its Demands” at Temple Emanu-El sponsored by the Young Men’s Hebrew Association.
1898:Herzl travels to Berlin and convenes a conference of Berlin Jews. He also has two conversations with Ahmed Tewfik, the Turkish ambassador.
1898: In a case of Jew versus Jew “representatives of the Auxiliary Relief Branch of the Russian and Polish Jewish Central Committee at Jerusalem… expressed indignation at the charges made of misues of the money collected in the United States for the relief of poor American Jews in…Palestine” made by the President of the newly formed American Congregation, the Pride of Jerusalem.
1899: A list of the bequests left by the late David Marks published today includes instruction that $250 be given to each of the following: the Hebrew Technical School; the Montefiore Home, the Home for Aged and Infirm Hebrews; Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum, Mount Sinai Hospital, Educational Alliance, Young Men’s Hebrew Association and $100 each to the Hebrew Free School and the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society. (This represents panoply of the institutions supported by New York Jewry at the turn of the century.)
1899: “The Honorable Lionel Walter Rothschild has been elected a member of Parliament for the Aylesburgy Division of Buckinghamshire without opposition, succeeding his uncle, the late Baron Ferdinand James De Rothschild, who died December 17, 18 98
1903: Birthdate of composer and conductor Maurice Abravanel.Abravanel was born in Saloniki Greece when it was still part of the Ottoman Empire. A descendant of Isaac Abravanel, he came from an illustrious Sephardic Jewish family, which was expelled from Spain in 1492. Abravanel's ancestors settled in Saloniki in 1517, and his parents were both born there. In 1909, they moved to Switzerland, where his father Edouard de Abravanel was a very successful pharmacist. In 1934, anti-German sentiment forced Abravanel to leave Europe. After enjoying a triumph in Austraalia, Abravanel came to the United States to conduct at the Metropolitan Opera. He became the long-time conductor of the Utah Symphony Orchestra (1947-1979, building it from a part-time community orchestra into a well-respected, professional ensemble with recording contracts with Vanguard, Vox, Angel, and CBS. He lobbied for years for a permanent home for the orchestra, which then performed in the Mormon Tabernacle on Temple Square. He saw his dream come true when Symphony Hall was built, but not until the season after he retired. It has now been renamed Abravanel Hall in his honour. Only in America could the a major musical venue in the heart of “Mormon Country” be named for a Sephardic Jew from Salonika. Abravanel passed away at the age of 90 in Salt Lake City.
1903(7thof Tevet, 5663): Henry de Worms, 1st Baron Pirbright, the third son of Solomon Benedict de Worms and leading Conservative politician passed away today.
1903: Herzl begins a trip that would take him to Paris and London.
1908: Birthdate of composer Menahem Avidom. Born in Galicia , Avidom moved to Eretz Israel after World War I. He studied music and graduated from the American University Beirut . He gained fame in Israel and throughout the world for his musical accomplishments before he died in 1995.
1911: Birthdate of comedian, actor and columnist, Joey Adams
1912: New Mexico becomes the 47th state to enter the Union . The historical record is too limited to do more than speculate on New Mexico Jewish life prior to 1848. The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia suggests that prior to 1850; there may have been isolated conversos in New Mexico . From then until New Mexico 's statehood, Jews played an active role in New Mexico 's social, economic and political life. The first religious services were held in 1860 Sante Fe and a B'nai B'rith lodge was formed in 1882 in Albuquerque . New Mexico 's first synagogue was built in Las Vegas in 1886. Other Jews were active in municiple and territorial/state politics. The experiences of New Mexico 's Jewish pioneers speak clearly to their resilience and dedication. In 1990, the 6,400 Jews living in New Mexico were found mostly in the Albuquerque area. Between 1750 and 1850, many German Jews came to America to escape economic hardship and religious persecution. In the 1840s and 1850s, the first Jewish immigrants to New Mexico established themselves as merchants, sending for relatives as soon as they were able. They married local women or traveled to Europe or cities in the United States to find Jewish brides. By 1860, half the Jewish population of the territory was related. During the Civil War, Jews served the Union cause as soldiers and suppliers. After the war, they expanded into new occupations - banking, politics, law, mining, and ranching. The railroad arrived in New Mexico in 1879, and a new wave of Jewish immigrants reflected their conservative Eastern European origins. After New Mexico became the 47th state in 1912, most of these families returned to urban centers to educate and marry off their children, and the pioneer era came to a close.
1914: Birthdate of Heinz Berggruen, collector and gallery owner - one of the world’s most important patrons and collectors of 20th century masters.
1918(22nd of Tevet, 5678): Georg Cantor passed away. Born in 1845, Georg Ferdinand Ludwig Philipp Cantor was a mathematician who was born in Russia and lived in Germany for most of his life. He is best known as the creator of modern set theory. He is recognized by mathematicians for having extended set theory to the concept of transfinite numbers, including the cardinal and ordinal number classes. Cantor is also known for his work on the set of uniqueness, a generalization of Fourier series. Cantor’s father was a Jewish Dane. His mother was a Protestant. Under Halachah, Cantor would not be considered Jewish. Under the racial laws that would go into in Germany 15 years after his death, he would have been a candidate for the Final Solution.
1919: Theodore Roosevelt 26th President of the United States passed away. While President, Roosevelt intervened with the governments of Rumania and Russia on behalf of their Jewish populations. This was an unusual event for Jews and earned Roosevelt and the Republicans support among Jewish voters. T.R.’s finest moment, from a Jewish point of view, may have come in 1895 when he was serving as New York City Police Commissioner. Pastor Hermann Ahlwardt, a noted German anti-Semite came to New York to give a speech. In an attempt to gain publicity for himself and his cause, he demanded police protection from what he was sure would be hostile demonstration by New York Jews. Roosevelt gave him his police protection. All of his protectors were Jewish policemen.
1919:As 100,000 German Marxists gathered in Berlin , Rosa Luxemberg urged them not to seize power until they had popular support. They did not listen to her. They began their unsuccessful revolt during which Rosa Luxemberg and Karl Liebknecht, the Jewish Communist leaders were killed.
1923: Birthdate of Argentine born writer and social protestor Jacobo Timerman. After his release from an Argentine prison he moved to Israel. He died in 1999.
1925(10th of Tevet, 5685): Asara B'Tevet
1925: Birthdate of Israel Shenker, the Philadelphia native who served as “a reported on the metropolitan staff of the New York Times” from 1968 to 1979. (As reported by Margalit Fox)
1927: A mass meeting is held tonight at Cooper Union to honor the memory of Asher Ginsberg (Ahad Ha’am). Speakers at the event include, Dr. Chaim Weismann, Louis Lipsky (President of the World Zionist Organization), Carl Sherman (President of the Zionist Organization of America), Ambrahm Goldberg (President of the American Hebrew Federdation), Professor Selig Brodetzky and Rabbi Stephen S. Wise.
1929: “Several speakers at the quarterly meeting of the national executive committee of the Zionist Organization of America…expressed disapproval of the actgion of Dr. Stephen S. Wise of the Free Synagogue in opposing participation of non-Zionists in the activities of the Jewish Agency. The Jewish Agency is the term now applied to the World Zionist Organization.” Non-Zionists who will work with the with Zionists in the Jewish Agnecy iknclude Louis Marshall, Felix M. Warburg, Dr. Lee K. Frankel, Herbert H. Lehman and Judge Irving Lehman.
1929: The New York Times featured a review of How Propaganda Works by Edward L. Bernays, “father of modern public relations and nephew of Sigmund Freud.
1931: Birthdate of author E. L. Doctorow.
1932(27th of Tevet, 5692): Julius Rosenwald passed away. Rosenwald is best known for turning Sears and Roebuck into a retail giant. He was also a great philanthropist whose efforts included everything from being the patron of chess champion Samuel Reshevsky to endowing Tuskegee Institute to the creation of the Rosenwald Fund which was established “for the well-being of mankind.” This brief entry cannot do justice to the accomplishments of a man, mighty in his times, who has been forgotten by most.
1932: It was announced today that “an unlimited quota of athletes will be permitted by the Palestine government to enter the country to take part in the Maccabee Games” to be held this spring in Tel Aviv.
1934: Hadassah announced that “the lowest infant mortality rate achieved in a Palestine health district was in Tel Aviv. “The rate was 68.03 among children under 1 year for every 1,000 live births and represented an improvement over 1931 when the rate was 72.52.” Jerusalem “had a rate of 117.30 in 1932 and 104.28 in 1931. Bethlehem…had a rate of 341.91 in 1932, the highest health district rate in the country. The infant death rate for the whole country was 153 in 1932, against 170 in 1931.”
1936: Cartoon character Porky Pig makes his debut. For most of his career the traif animal got his voice from the Jewish Mel Blanc.
1937: The Palestine Postreported that a quarry worker, Haim Katz, 29, and a policeman, Jacob Klinger, 34, were murdered in an ambush at Givat Shaul.
1938: William Dodd, who had resigned as U.S. Ambassador to Germany in December, arrived in New York City wherehe said that he "doubted if an American envoy who held his ideals of democracy could represent his country successfully among the Germans at the present time." Dodd was the first U.S. Ambassador appointed after the rise of Hitler. In time he came to see the Nazi threat and tried to do what he could to warn America about the danger.
1938(4th of Sh'vat, 5698): Pinchas Friedman one of the earliest Zionist settlers and a founder of Tel Aviv passed away today. Born in Russia, he made Aliyah in 1890.
1939: In an article entitled “Interests of Britain, Jews and Arabs Are in Clash,” Anne O’Hare McCormick describes conditions in Palestine which is currently in the grip of an armed Arab uprising. She describes meetings with two different groups of Arabs. The first group, “composed of fervent nationalists complained” that the Jews of Palestine “prevented Palestinians from attaining an independent status like that granted to Iraq.” They vowed that they “would never cease fighting” and “insisted that they spoke for every Arab in the land.” The second group of Arabs was found “sharing a meal in a communal dining room” on a kibbutz. These Arabs said “they wanted peace and complained that the British neither punished the handful off rebels stirring up their village” nor providing arms to responsible Arab leaders so they could stand against those creating the violence.
1940: Shivering Jews in Warsaw , Poland
1941: President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his State of the Union address which became known as the Four Freedoms Speech because FDR listed them as:
- Freedom of speech and expression including the right to dissent
- Freedom of every person to worship God in his own way
- Freedom from want
- Freedom from fear
The first two are recognizable as being part of the Bill of Rights. Freedom #2 spoke directly to the needs and concerns of the Jewish people and would prove strikingly ironic considering the events surrounding the Holocaust.
1942: Jacob Moshe Toledano who was born in Tiberias was installed as Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv and Jaffa . In 1926 Toledano served as the head of the religious court at Tangiers, and later similar posts in Cairo and Alexandria . Toledano was escorted from Tiberias to Tel Aviv by a grand delegation.
1942: Victor Klemper was arrested and interrogated at the Gestapo headquarters in Dresden .
1943: Eighty six year old Abbot Lawrence Lowell, the former President of Harvard, passed away. He was praised by some for being a leader in educational reforms. But many of his policies were homophobic, racist and anti-Semitic.
1943: The Jews of Lubaczow, Poland , are killed at the Belzec death camp
1943: Jews hiding in Opoczno , Poland Palestine " came out of hiding to register. All 500 were sent to Treblinka and were gassed.
1944: Birthdate of Bonnie Franklin, American actress. She once said that because of her red hair and freckles, fans have a hard time believing that she is Jewish.
1945 (21st of Tevet, 5705): On Shabbat, Roza Robota and three other Jewish women implicated in the smuggling of explosives used in the October 7, 19 44, uprising at Auschwitz are hanged in front of the entire women's camp at Birkenau. The three women had been previously tortured in connection with the revolt at Birkenau but gave away no one. Robota’s final words were, "that vengeance would come."
1945: Hungarian authorities accede to Raoul Wallenberg's request that 5000 Jews be transferred to Swiss-sponsored safe homes in Budapest .
1945(21st of Tevet, 5705): Anne Frank's mother, Edith, dies at Auschwitz
1946: In Zanzur , Libya Tripoli leaving a death toll of approximately 180 Jews and 9 synagogues destroyed. The local police and Arab soldiers often joined in the destruction and murder. This outbreak of Arab anti-Semitic violence took place two years before the creation of the state of Israel . This should put an end to claims that only source of friction between Jews and Arabs was the creation of the Jewish state.
1949: During Operation Horev, the Israeli Air Force shot down five RAF Spitfires on patrol in the area, killing two pilots and taking two prisoners. It is not clear if the Spitfires were being flown by Egyptian or British pilots.
1949: The British moved forces into the Jordanian port of Akaba.
1949:After three days of fighting around Rafah in which its forces failed to defeat the IDF, the Egyptian government announced, that it was willing to enter armistice negotiations
1953: The Jerusalem Post reported that according to the new and improved rationing schedule each Israeli was now able to purchase four eggs a week. A mere fifty years ago, the Israelis were living barely above the subsistence level. With no natural resources and faced by enemies on all of its borders, the Jews created a modern, vibrant country. A huge forest, named after Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, was planted on Mount Carmel. Only five years after the founding of the state of Israel, the Jewish state created a living monument to a Moslem leader who was not afraid to embrace the modern world.
1954: Moshe Sharett succeeded David Ben-Gurion as Prime Minister of Israel. Ben Gurion had been Prime Minister since the creation of the state in 1948. Sharett had been Foreign Minister, a post he kept in the new government. Golda Meir remained as Labor Minister and Pinchas Lavon became Minister of Defense. The change was in leadership; the Labor Zionist still maintained control of the government.
1955: In Boston, publication of the tercentenary issue of the Jewish Advocate.
1955: In Boston, publication of the tercentenary issue of the Jewish Advocate.
1956: Birthdate of Gonen Segev, the native of Kiryat Motzkin who has served as an MK and Minister of Energy and Infrastructure.
1956: In Seattle, Washington, a Friday night services is held at the U of W Hillel House attended by 170 people who want to form a Reform congregation that will become Temple Beth Am.
1956: Birthdate of Justin Welby, “the first ‘Jewish’ Archbishop of Canterbury.”
1957: Yeshiva Kol Ya'ackov opened in Moscow Russia.
1964: Pope Paul VI completed his first visit to the “Holy Land” where he visited sites in Jordan and Israel and began his return flight to Rome.
1967: Jewish pianist Jacob Lateiner, accompanied by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, performed at the premier of Elliot Carter’s piano concerto and the third piano sonata of Roger Sessions.
1967: "Milton Berle Show" aired for the last time on ABC -TV
1968: It was reported today that during a New Year’s conversation French President Charles de Gaulle had assured Jacob Kaplan, the Grand Rabbi of France “that it was far from his intention to insult the Jews when he called them an ‘elite people, sure of itself and domineering’ during a news conference in November of 1967. Speaking at a time when France was repositioning itself following the Six Days War DeGaulle also said “that while the Jews though the centuries had ‘provoked, more precisely aroused’ antagonism in various countries, they had received great sympathy from Christians because of their sufferings.” (Editor’s Note – these words have a hollow sound coming from the land of Drancy. They also show that French anti-Semitism in the 21st century is not just a produce of Moslem radicals)
1969: “The Fig Leaves Are Falling” a musical with script and lyrics by Allan Sherman closed after only 4 performances
1978: The Jerusalem Postreported that Egypt agreed to reduce by one -third its forces in Sinai, once Israel evacuated the whole area. The US Embassy in Tel Aviv asked the Israeli government to clarify its intentions regarding the setting up of new settlements on the West Bank and in Sinai.
1981(1st of Sh'vat, 5741): Rosh Chodesh Sh'vat
1987: A.M. Rosenthal’s “On My Mind” column appeared for the first time on the Op-Ed page of the New York Times.
1987(5 Tevet 5747): U.S. Federal Court issued a decision in favor of Agudas Chassidei Chabad ("Union of Chabad Chassidim") regarding the ownership of the priceless library of the 6th Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn. The ruling was based on the idea that a Rebbe is not a private individual but a communal figure synonymous with the body of Chassidim. The Lubavitcher Rebbe (Rabbi Yoseph Yitzchak's son-in-law and successor) urged that the occasion be marked with time devoted to study from Torah books ("sefarim") as well as the acquisition of new Torah books.
1987:A roadside bomb killed four members of an Israeli-backed militia in southern Lebanon today.
1987: Yitzhak Shamir replaced Yitzhak Peretz as Internal Affairs Minister.
1991: Following a speech today, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Iraqi Army, in which Sadam Hussein said he was preparing the nation for a great battle to liberate Palestine and defeat American "tyranny" in the Middle East the United States once again rejected efforts to tie the gulf crisis to the Palestinian question.
2002: The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish author and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including newly released paperback versions of![!]()
Amy Wilentz’s Martyrs' Crossing, the first novel by a former Israel correspondent for The New Yorker and Bob Woodward’s Maestro: Greenspan's Fed and the American Boom, an admiring portrait of the Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan.
Amy Wilentz’s Martyrs' Crossing, the first novel by a former Israel correspondent for The New Yorker and Bob Woodward’s Maestro: Greenspan's Fed and the American Boom, an admiring portrait of the Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan.2002: Sheila Finestone completed her service as Senator for Montarville, Quebec, when she reached the mandatory retirement age of 75.
2003: Police said tonight that that they suspected the suicide bombers who struck in Tel Aviv on Sunday used backpacks containing more than 20kg of explosives instead of suicide belts.
2005:: Edgar Ray Killen is arrested as a suspect for the 1964 murders of three Civil Rights workers James Chaney, a 21-year-old black man from Meridian, Mississippi and two Jewish voting rights organizers from New York, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner.
2005: The First World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace begins in Brussels, Belgium.
2006: “Jackie Hoffman: Chanukah At Joe’s Pub” and “Walking in Memphis: The Life of A Southern Jew,” a semi-autobiographical piece by Jonathan Ross are now playing “Off, Off Broadway” in New York City.
2006: “Fateless” a movie based on the novel by the same name written by Imre Kertesz opens at the Film Forum in New York. Fatelesswas a biographical novel for which Kertesz won the Nobel Prize in 2002.
2006: Ariel “Sharon underwent a five-hour operation to halt bleeding in his brain, following which Sharon was returned to the neurological intensive care unit.”
2007: As part of its “Jewish Season” The Theater for a New Audience in New York City presents The Merchant of Venice.
2008: An exhibition entitled Morris Louis Now: An American Master Revisited at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. comes to a close.
2008(28thof Tevet, 5768):Rabbi Shmuel Berenbaum, a Talmudic scholar who for more than 50 years led a major Orthodox yeshiva in Brooklyn, known as the Mir Yeshiva, died today. He was 87. His death followed a long struggle with cancer, said Rabbi Pinchos Hecht, executive director of the yeshiva, also called the Mirrer Yeshiva Central Institute. The Mir Yeshiva is exclusively devoted to the study of the Torah: the Old Testament, commentaries upon it and the oral tradition known as the Talmud. It has 1,200 members. Another branch is in Jerusalem, with an estimated 4,000 students. Rabbi Berenbaum was born in 1920 in Poland and studied in a yeshiva in Mir before World War II. As the Nazis rolled across Eastern Europe, he and other yeshiva students fled to the Soviet Union and resettled in Shanghai. From there, they eventually emigrated to the United States. Steven Bayme, national director of contemporary Jewish life at the American Jewish Committee, said the yeshiva helped preserve “a world that was otherwise lost.” “The rescue of the institution during the Holocaust by going to Shanghai was an act of incredible daring,” Mr. Bayme said. “It took enormous courage and perseverance.” Jonathan Rosenblum, director of Am Echad, an advocacy group in Israel that works to build bridges between ultra-Orthodox Jews and others, said that while Rabbi Berenbaum had no public position in America, “he was the one who was consulted on anything connected to Torah learning in the Torah world,” adding, “He taught Torah for over 50 years, and he never repeated himself.” Leadership of the Brooklyn yeshiva will pass to Rabbi Berenbaum’s nephew, Rabbi Osher Kalmanowitz. (As reported by AP)
2008: The Matzo Show on Rivington Street by Deborah Kolben
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/nyregion/thecity/06matz.html?sq=The Matzo Show on Rivington Street &st=cse&scp=1&pagewanted=print
2008: The Washington Post featured a review of People of the Book a work of historic fiction by Geraldine Brooks. “The Book” in the title is the famous Sarajevo Haggadah, created in medieval Spain . The Haggadah is “a famous rarity because it was a lavishly illuminated Hebrew manuscript made at a time when Jewish belief was firmly against illustrations of any kind.”
2008: The Sunday New York Times featured a review of, and excerpt from, Jihad and Jew-Hatred:Islamism, Nazism and the Roots of 9/11by Matthias Küntzel and translated by Colin Meade, a review of, and an excerpt from, Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemyby Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg and a review of Peace Be Upon You: The Story of Muslim, Christian and Jewish Coexistence by Zacharcy Karabell.
2008 (28 Tevet 5768): Rabbi Shmuel Berenbaum, the Rosh yeshiva of the Mir yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York City which includes an elementary school and a high school, as well as its post-graduate Talmudical Academy passed away.
2009:The National Jewish Democratic Council recognizes the Jewish Democratic Members of the 111th Congress at a reception at Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC
2009: Fast of the 10th of Tevet and Yahrzeit of Judy Rosenstein (nee Levin).
2009:Today, on the Christian observance known as the Feast of the Epiphany, the Ra'anana Symphonette (RS) conducted by Omer Wellber, will play Irena's Song - a Ray of Light through the Darkness by Kobi Oshrat. The composition and the performance were inspired by Irene Sendler, who along with her intrepid band of helpers from Zegota, the Polish underground, rescued 2,500 children from the Warsaw Ghetto between 1942 and 1943.
2009: Barack Obama has nominated Elena Kagan to serve as his solicitor general. If the nomination is confirmed by the United States Senate, Kagan who is the dean of the Harvard Law School
2009 (10 Shevat 5769):St.-Sgt. Alexander Mashevizky, 21, a resident of Beersheba, was killed in a gun battle with Hamas operatives in northern Gaza City
2010:The Bronx House Jewish Community Center presents “Klezmer Party” with Matan Chapnizka (Saxophone), Daniel Ori (Bass) and Dan Pugach (Drums) as part of the 2010 Bronx House Concert Series.
2010:At around 1 a.m. this morning the Etz-Hayyim Synagogue in the Greek city of Hania on the island of Crete was set on fire by an unkown arsonist. The fire was started on wooden staircase that led to the second-story women's section of the main sanctuary in the small seaside complex. The Etz-Hayyim Synagogue was restored in the late 1990s after years of neglect in the wake of the Second World War. The nearly 300 members of the Hania Jewish community were shipped out by the Nazi invaders in 1944, and died when their ship was sunk in transit by an Allied torpedo. It serves as a place for prayer, a museum and memorial, and a library recording the long and troubled history of Crete's Jews. The walls of the synagogue's main hall were covered in soot, but the fire did not reach the Torah scrolls or the library.
2010:Israel inched a step closer to deploying a missile defense system along the border with the Gaza Strip today after the Iron Dome successfully intercepted a number of missile barrages in tests held in southern Israel this week.
2010:American Jewish youth movement Young Judaea and its long-running sponsor, Hadassah Women's Organization, suffered another blow today following the resignation of key staff member, YJ/FZY Year Course Director Keith Berman. Berman's decision to leave Young Judaea after more than 20 years with the movement closely follows the resignation of its director, Rabbi Ramie Arian, who is scheduled to step down in the coming weeks.
2010:James von Brunn, who shot and killed museum guard Stephen Tyrone Johns on June 10 during an attempted raid on the U.S. Holocaust Museum, died in a prison hospital today. He was 88 and died of natural causes. Von Brunn was awaiting trial on possible death penalty charges in the federal prison in Butner, N.C., after recovering from being shot in the face by another guard. Von Brunn had a long history of white supremacist and anti-Semitic writings. The museum issued a statement memorializing Johns. "The Museum's thoughts and prayers continue to be with Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns' family at this time," the statement said. "Officer Johns died heroically defending the Museum, visitors and staff. This tragedy is a powerful reminder that our cause of fighting hatred remains more urgent than ever."
2011(1stof Shevat, 5771): Rosh Chodesh Shevat.
2011: The 92nd St Y is scheduled to present a program entitled “Democracy, Power Politics and the New Middle East” which will “delve into the shifting tectonic plates of Middle East politics, Iran's embattled regime and its nuclear ambitions, Iraq's fledgling democracy, new realities for Persian Gulf monarchies and the longer-term challenges facing Israelis and Palestinians.
2011: Aaron Hillel Swartz “was arrested near the Harvard campus by MIT police and a U.S. Secret Service agent” after which he “was arraigned in Cambridge District Court on two state charges of breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony.”
2011: The Red Sea Classical Festival is scheduled to open in Eilat.
2011: Birthday of Brian Cohen, shofar blower par excellence, and a man whose life is worthy of his patronymic.
2011: The High Court of Justice ruled today that public bus companies could continue the practice of gender segregation on dozens of lines serving the ultra-Orthodox sector, as long as there is no coercion or violence involved.
2011:Kenyan runner Stephen Chemlany won the 34th annual Tiberias Marathon today, making it across the finish line after 2:10:02. Frenchman Patrick Tambe Ngoie captured second place, finishing seven seconds behind the leader. Kenya’s Julius Muriuki Wahome finished in third place. Haile Satayin, Israel’s champion marathon runner, defended his title today, becoming the first Israeli to cross the finish line. Satayin, who finished in 19th place overall, completed the course in 2:18:57. While the result put him in first among Israelis, it failed to reach the minimum threshold as determined by the Olympic Committee, meaning Satayin will not represent Israel in London. Zohar Zamiro was the second Israeli to cross the finish line.
2012: In New Orleans, LA, Touro Synagogue is scheduled to host a Shabbat Family Dinner.
2012: Think Different – Original Israeli Rock is scheduled to take place at the Blaze Sports and Rock Bar on Rechov Hillel
2012: Excerpts from works by LeeSaar The Company Lior Shneior (Sea Songs), Michal Samama (Under the Skin), Neta Dance Company and Netta Yerushalmy are scheduled to be performed at the 92nd St Y in Manhattan.
2012: The Judges Selection Committee announced the nomination of four new Supreme Court judges today.
2012: Gabriel Cadis, a senior figure in Jaffa’s Christian community was stabbed to death today evening, during festivities at the St George Church in Jaffa. Cadis, who served as head of the Orthodox Church Association in Jaffa, was taken to Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, but succumbed to his injuries very quickly.
2012:A third file containing hacked credit card details of Israelis was posted on the internet today. The new file, published in the PasteBin website, contains information from the same credit cards that was revealed earlier this week. Bank Leumi warned that the current file might contain a Trojan horse and that people should refrain from downloading it.
2013: The Klezmer Jam Session and Dance is scheduled to take place at The Talking Stick in Venice, CA.
2013: Tim Burton’s “Frankenweenie” is scheduled to be shown at the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival.
2013: The New York Times features reviews of books written by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including Love Song: The Lives of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya and the recently released paperback editions of Man Seeks God: My Flirtations With the Divine by Eric Weinter and The Street Sweeper by Elliot Perlman
2013: Family and friends of Brian Cohen, master latke maker and shofar blower par excellence, wish him the happiest of birthdays in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
2013: Public Television is scheduled to broadcast “Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy, featuring interviews and performance footage that provides insight as to why Broadway “is fertile territory for Jewish artists.”
2013:"A report released by the State Comptroller today finds that former Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi was not directly complicit in the production of a document aimed at discrediting Defense Minister Ehud Barak's choice to succeed him as army chief, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yoav Galant."
2013: "Flooded tracks brought train traffic between Tel Aviv and Haifa to a halt for a few hours today, as stuck automobiles caused traffic jams in many places across the country."
2013(24thof Tevet, 5733): 200th Yarhrzeit of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of the Chabad Lubavitch Movement. We cannot do justice to the career of this Jewish leader who “created” a form of Judaism that harmonized the need for spirituality, ecstasy and education.
2014: Professor Steven is scheduled to deliver a lecture “Leonard Bernstein: From Jewish Roots to Broadway” in Carlsbad, CA.
2014: “12 Years a Slave” is among the films scheduled to shown at the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival.